THEY’RE NOT BOOING- THEY’RE SAYING LOU

Extremely interesting comments on Saturday by Lou Merloni. The former PawSox infielder, now a commentator on ComCast said that the Red Sox brought a doctor into a meeting in spring training (he didn’t specify the year) to talk about steroids. Merloni and the rest of the players were stunned that the doc told the guys that if you took steroids the right way, they could help. They had expected a “fire and brimstone” talk about how dangerous they were. I suspect we haven’t heard the end of this. Merloni is already “making his bones” as an on-air talent.

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Great to see International League President Randy Mobley at Huntington Park on Saturday. The I.L. offices are in Dublin, a suburb of Columbus. Not sure if the prez reads this blog, but he is ready to lobby for bobbleheads of Dan and me, like the ones on the homepage of PawSox.com, the official website of the PawSox. His predecessor, Harold Cooper stands forever in front of this new ballpark, memorialized with a beautiful bronze statue. According to Joe Santry, Director of Media Relations for Columbus, Cooper, now 89, still comes out to the yard. As the story goes, Cooper was unreachable in the early hours of that fateful day in April 1981 when the PawSox and Rochester played 32 innings, in what turned out to be the longest game in baseball history. When he was finally available, he told them to quit for the night. Of course, the game resumed in June and the PawSox eventually won.

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As we were about to go on the air today, I finally found something I didn’t like about this new venue. I saw a youngster buy some cotton candy for $4.25, pretty pricy. That’s not it. The young girl gave the vendor a five dollar bill and waited for her change. He looked at her and said ” I usually get to keep the 75 cents.” He turned around and the scumbag took off.

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Centterfielder Michael Brantley made the defensive play of the day Saturday. He leapt high over the wall about 405 feet away and pulled a homer back in the park, robbing catcher Carlos Maldonado. If this were a Major League game, it easily makes ESPN Sportscenter’s top ten.

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Things got a little interesting in the fifth inning after Angel Chavez grounded out to third. Chavez was making hs way across the diamond, when he and pitcher Kirk Saarloos had to be separated after exchanging words. The benches didn’t clear as managers Ron Johnson and Torey Lovullo interceded along with the umpires.